Magazine

Archive: Big and bold

Date posted: 16 Jan 2013Author: STC

We couldn't be more proud of our spectacular new production (if
we do say so ourselves)The Secret River. Directed by Neil
Armfield, adapted by Andrew Bovell from the novel by Kate
Grenville, created by a blindingly talented creating team and
starring a rock-solid cast of 21, this is truly a landmark
production and we are thrilled to share it with you. STC has a
history of presenting vast, ambitious, memorable theatre and, in
honour of The Secret River, we look back at just a few of
these gargantuan gems in our past…

In 1980 an enormous cast of 25, lead by the wonderful John Bell and
directed by Richard Wherrett, came together for a memorable
production of Cyrano de Bergerac. (Photo: Branco
Gaica)

Terry Donovan and the chorus of Chicagofirst performed
the Kander and Ebb musical, also directed by Richard Wherrett, in
1981 and then toured and returned a staggering six times from 1981
to 1983. (Photo: Brett Hilder)

John Gaden and members of the 19-strong cast performed in yet
another mammoth Wherrett masterpiece, Amadeus,in 1982.
(Photo: Sandy Edwards)

By 1983 Richard Wherrett had proven himself to be the master of big
shows (see above) and so, along with co-director John Gaden, he
took on the Everest of early-80s theatre: The Life and
Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, pts, 1, 2. In short: 36
actors, 12 musicians, 120 roles, eight and a half hours over two
performances. Pure magic. (Photo: Brett Hilder)

Deborah Wells, Jacqueline Linke, Jennifer Vuletic, Phillip Quast
and Pippa Grandison were part of a cast of 21, plus 18 musicians,
who performed in a Wayne Harrison directed production of Stephen
Sondheim's Into the Woodsin 1993. Quast, Sharon
Millerchip and Judi Connelli all won awards for this production.
(Photo: Robert McFarlane)

In 1996 a cast of 16 (plus one vocalist) teamed up for Simon
Phillips' As You Like It, which featured Paul Livingston
riding high on Shakespeare's quill. The cast for this show included
Anita Hegh and Bruce Spence who are both in The Secret
River. (Photo: Philip le Masurier)

Angie Milliken and John Gaden were part of a cast of 19 (plus an
ensemble of 11 third-year acting students from Charles Sturt
University) for Gale Edwards' The White Devilin 2000. A
company of 27 actors toured to BAM in New York with this production
in 2001. (Photo: Robert McFarlane)

Amber McMahon and Deborah Mailman and the NIDA nightingales were
part of the cast of 36 (including NIDA second-year students) that
performed in Barrie Kosky's eight-hour epic The Lost Echo, pts
1, 2in 2006. (Photo: Heidrun Lohr)

The cast of 35 for Gallipoli, which played in 2008 in the
Sydney Theatre, featured the STC Actors Company and included 23
third-year NIDA acting students. (Photo: Brett Boardman)

Steve le Marquand, Pamela Rabe, Cate Blanchett, Peter Carroll,
Amber McMahon and John Gaden were all part of the cast for Benedict
Andrews' utterly memorable eight-hour production of The War of
the Roses, pts 1, 2in 2009. (Photo: Tania Kelley)

Two playwrights, three directors, a cast of nine and an entirely
new seating arrangement, which allowed patrons to promenade about
the theatre, made 2009's The Mysteries: Genesisa
memorable addition to the STC repertoire. (Photo: Brett
Boardman)